Furnace



(No Model.) Y 3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

W. SWINDELL.

y FURNAGE. l No. 367,251. l -PatentedJu-ly 26, 1887.

N. Perris Pmwumugnpnw. whingum. n. c.

(No Model.) 3 Sheets Sheet 2. W. SWINDBLL.

ACE

N0. 367,251. Patented Ju1y'26, 1887.

3 eeeeeeeeeee t 3. W. SWINDELL.

PU'RNAG'B.

No. 367,251. f Patented July 26, 1887.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM SWINDELL, OF ALLEGHENY CITY, PENNSYLVANIA.

FURNACE.

SPECIFICATION forming part'ef Lettere Patent No. 367,251, dated July 26,1887.

Application filed June 24, 18H6. Serial No. 206,075. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern,.-

Beit known thatl I, WILLIAM SWINDELL, of Allegheny City, in the county of Allegheny and State of- Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Furnaces; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in whichu Figure lis a vertical longitudinal section of a part of a gas'furnace, the section being on the line fw' w of Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a vertical cross-section thereof on the line x a: of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a` vertical cross-section'on the line y.

y of Fig. 1. Figri is a horizontal cross-section on the line z z of Fig. 1. Figs. 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 are perspective views of several forms of brick used in the construction of the walls of the furnace.

Like symbols of reference indicate like parts in each.

In building regenerator-furnaces whose Hues open through a Wall into the working-chamber it has been customary to make the face of the flue-wall perpendicular and to lay the courses of brick horizontally. The heat at the mouths of the flues is very intense, and it often happens that thelower courses of brick burn out and undermine the Wall, causing it to fall forward into the bed. Another evil -in furnaces as at present built is due to the effect of the heat in expanding or contracting the material of the walls. vFire-clay bricks contract'with heat, and in order to avoid the disadvantages which are caused by shrinking of the walls, it has been a common practice to build them of silica brick or sandstone, which expands when heated; but it is obvious that a much stronger and more stable structure would result if the furnace-walls were so built as to be constant with varying temperatures.

The principal object of my invention is to improve the construction of furnaces and to obviate the evils which I have indicated.

In the drawings, 2 .represents the furnacebed of a regenerator-furnace. 3 are the airiiues; and 4 are the gas-lues, which are arranged in vertical parallel series, and discharge into the workinglchamber through necks 5 and 6 in the flue-wall 7. As shown in Fig. 1, the face 8 of the flue-Wall is inclined back- 2, e, and 7.

wardly, and the bricks of the upper and inner part of the Wall, instead of being in horizontal courses, are inclined to the planes of the other .courses of brick, and are perpendicular to the inclined face 8. The inclined courses of brick are keyed at the back to the horizontal courses by angular bricksor skewbacks a, Figs. 1 and 9, which are arranged in the inclined courses alternately with square-faced bricks, and where the square-faced bricks occur the ends 'of the adjacent bricks b in the horizontal courses of the wall are beveled, as shown in Figs. 1 and 10, so as to iit neatly against the bricks of the inclined courses.

In order that the faces or under sides of the arches .of the neck-fines 6 may be regular, and that the bricks may be inclined, as above described, I employ bricks c, Figs. 1, 2, and 5, Whose lower faces are provided with wedgeshaped or beveled grboves, the Width of the groove in each brick being the same as that of the flue. These bricks are built over the neckfines 6 so as'to cover them, as shown in Figs. l and 2, and as the angle of the beveled grooves with the faces of the bricks is identical Wit-h the desired angle of the flue with the planes of the courses of bricks theV faces of the iiuearches will be regular. In case the floor above the cap-bricks c is inclined, owing to the arching of the furnace, as illustrated by the two outer iiues, 6, in Fig. 2, the upper faces of the bricks c should be beveled correspondingly to the inclination of the arch, as shown in Figs.

When thus built, the floors of the i'lues 6 and of the overlying air-fines 5 will be irregular, the projecting bricks forming a series of steps. To even these floors I use bricks d, Figs. 1 and 8, whose upper faces are inclined conformably to the pitch of the floors, and whose bottom faces are stepped, so as to fit on the irregular surfaces. These bricks not only serve the purpose above indicated, but also strengthen the furnace-Walls, in a manner keying the other bricks together. When the furnace is thus constructed, the burning out of the lower courses of brick will not impair the integrity ofthe remainder of the structure, but will only tend to reduce the face of the due-wall to a perpendicular, while the inclination of the bricks aids in resisting their tendency to fall.

In order to overcome the swelling or shrink- IOO ing of the furnace-walls under change in heat, I build those parts of the walls most subject to heat of two kinds of brick, one kind being of a nature to expand when heated-such as the ordinary silica brickand the other kind having the property to contract under the inuence of heat-such as the ordinary fire-clay brick. These bricks are interspersed in the furnacewall, as shown in the different hatching lines in the figures on the first and second Sheets of the drawings. The shrinking of the re-clay bricks will then compensate thc swelling of the silica bricks, and if the number of each kind of brick be properly proportioned to the relative degrees of their variations by heat the wall as a whole will remain constant in bulk. In arranging these bricks in the furnace-wall it is preferable to alternate them with each other, since then the silica brick, being better able to resist heat, will protect and save the less-refractory {ire-brick. not, however, desire to limit myself` to this arrangement, since the bricks may be interspersed in any suitable way to secure the entire or partial neutralization ofthe expansion ofthe one kind bythe contraction ofthe other.

Although I have mentioned and claim a furnace-wall containing silica bricks interspersed with fire-clay bricks, I do not desire to limit myself to briekscomposed of these materials, the essential feature being the use of bricks which expand when heated interspersed with bricks which contract when heated, so as to overcome the swelling or shrinking of the furnace-walls under changes in heat.

I am aware that bricks of tapered and other forms have been used to give an inclination to the walls of a furnace. I do not claim such bricks generally', nor any of the forms of bricks particularly shown and described in Letters with inclined courses of masonry, the face of 5o the fluewall forming an obtuse angle with the plane ofthe working chamber or hearth, snb

stantially as and for the purposes described.

3. In the iluewall of a gasffurnace, the combination, with a series of horizontal courses of masonry and a series of inclined courses form ing part of the wall, of angular bricks keying the inclined courses to the horizontal courses, substantially as and for the purposes described.

4. The combination of a furnace-wall made with inclined courses of masonry, with stepped bricks d, covering the `irregular surface of such masonry, substantial! y as and for the purposes described.

5. In a furnace having a flue made in a wall at an angle to the plane of the courses of niasonry, bricks covering the iiues and having inclined grooves on the side next the. fines and a rectangular liat upper face, and placed so as to be stepped one with another, substantially as and for the purposes described.

6. A furnace-wall containing silica bricks and ire-clay bricks interspersed, substantial] y as and for the purposes described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 22d day of June, A. D. 1886.

VIL'LIAM SWINDELL.

XVitncsses:

TiioMAs W. BIKEWELL, W. B. CoRwIN. 

